So So
by Lissome Dalliance
Summary: "Kagome? Is Daddy coming home tonight?" Her smile faded at the faint whisper, her words so pained, too pained for a little girl to bear with. "He always does Ri."


She tugged one strand of her silky hair behind her ear, the calming warm breeze of the late afternoon making her close her eyes in bliss. She hadn't felt it for a while. Peace. There was always something. Something getting in the way. Something telling her she couldn't go further without solving what was written in her past. Telling her she wouldn't be able to live with herself without making sure it would be okay. She craved it.

She hadn't seen them in two years. Her own family. The ones that were supposed to be the center of her life, her haven. And yet, she couldn't understand how. How had things turned out so wrong?

"Kagome!" The tender young voice brought her back from her daydream. A warm smile flew to her lips as the little girl ran through the playground, not bothering to look where she was going or who she was bumping into.

"Hey Ri!" The small laugh she couldn't control any longer was muffled as the tiny brunette jumped in her arms, wobbling legs wrapping around her waist. "You're gonna end up hurting yourself sweetie!" Kagome smiled as bright amber eyes twinkled with joy.

"I won't! I can fly Kagome! Look!" Her arms quickly wrapped around her small waist as soon as she decided to jump to the ground. The little girl laughed as she was hoisted in the air, her tiny pale hands opening wide, trying to feel the warm breeze. "See? I told you! I'm a bee!"

Kagome smiled looking up at her, her tiny white teeth shining between her happy smile. "Why a bee? Why not a bird?" She made sure to tickle her behind her neck before putting her down and taking the small pink bag from her shoulder.

"Because birds can't fly as high!" A wave of laughter flew through them as the young girl ran back and forth on the sidewalk, her chubby arms mimicking the movements as she jumped. "And if I'm a bee I get to wear a pretty striped dress!"

She giggled before picking up the small bag from the floor and waving to the young kindergarten teacher. It had been two years. Two years since she had met that lonely yet so sweet and loving child. She was everything to her. She was the family she never had.

"Kagome? Is Daddy coming home tonight?" Her smile faded at the faint whisper, her words so pained, too pained for a little girl to bear with.

"He always does Ri." She tried to stay collected. She tried not to sound unsure. Because she knew the wrong answer, even if it was a truthful answer, could hurt her. It could hurt so much.

"How come I never see him then?" She was watching her carefully, her big round amber orbs shining with hope.

"Because you're already asleep dummy!" She knelt in front of her small form, her chin hanging low like a lost puppy. She smiled before softly pecking her tiny perky nose. "Come on, let's go home. I promise I'll give you a bucket full of ice-cream when we get there!" She tried. She tried to make her forget. To make a genuine smile shine in her round rosy cheeks. But it was hard when _he_ was not around.

"With chocolate chips?" Her slightly watery amber eyes lifted to meet her chocolate ones. Kagome smiled taking her small hand in hers and walking them out of the school grounds.

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"So if I grow this much-" She held her hand high above her head, her toes curling as her bare legs stretched to their limit. "-I'm gonna be as tall and pretty and beautiful and- and- as you?" Rina giggled as her little arms gave out on her.

"Of course not!" She shouted sounding offended by the comment, watching from the corner of her eye the smile vanishing from the little girl's lips. "You'll be even taller, prettier, and much more beautiful." She heard a cheerful laugh before a tiny body bumped into hers.

"Like princess Miyako?"She pecked the little girl's cheek before taking the colorful book from her shaking hands. She ran to the bed, getting under the thin covers, bringing the white and pink sheets up to her nose. Kagome smiled sitting close to her already tired form.

"Even more." She placed a sweet kiss on her forehead, a small yawn being the answer of the child softly falling asleep in her arms. She loved her. She loved her like a sister. Like a daughter. She was the bit of happiness she longed for.

"I want t-to hear the story again…" Kagome reached to dim the lights as her honey eyes got heavier, the soft whispers from the outside breeze making her calm suddenly.

"I already read it twice Ri." She smiled brushing the dark brown hair from her pale skin. They were so much alike. They shared everything. They made everything and everyone around them disappear. Everything and everyone that could hurt them; keep them apart.

"…Will?- Will you wake me when Daddy comes home? We are going to the park- tomorrow…" She caressed her young cheek before placing a tiny kiss on her nose. She didn't want to lie to her. She couldn't.

" 'Night Ri." She watched her amber eyes slowly closing while tugging her in her little bed. She wouldn't let it happen. She wouldn't let him hurt her even more.

In a weird way, she was trying to protect them.

Both of them.

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She hated him. She hated him with everything she had. He didn't have the right. Who was he anyway? Who was he to tell her what to do? Who was he to make her go through all that? Who was he to even understand what he was doing to her?

She didn't have anybody else. She was just a child; a little bird trapped. And he wasn't there. He was never there! Time, company issues, personal problems; whatever he wanted to call them. All the distractions, all the tiny minor details that would keep him from her. All the midnight calls, all the business lunches, all the things restraining him from the world. From his own family.

And he didn't even know.

"Is Rina asleep?" His voice was raspy, cold. He was the kind of man that could make the planet crawl before him. Yet there was nothing she wanted more than to make him feel the pain. The loss.

"As usual." She bent over the small center table to grab her keys, not once exchanging a glance with his amber eyes. He looked so much like her. In so many ways. But her heart, the kind that would accept everyone with no second thought and suffer so much for someone who didn't deserve it, was something he could never hope to possess.

"I want you to take care of her again tomorrow." She clenched her fists tightly, wanting nothing more than to grab him by his throat and punch him against the wall. He didn't deserve her.

"Weren't- weren't you supposed to go to the park with your daughter tomorrow?" She turned her face to the other side, refusing to let him see her in an undone state.

"Mind your own business Kagome" He got up from the leather couch before handing her a white envelope with her payment.

"Keep it." She rushed away from him, dragging her bag across the room. Her eyes were angry when she turned around, her hands fisting at her side. "You should take some time out of your precious full-on life and pay more attention to your daughter. She doesn't deserve it!" She realized she was shouting before her brain could process the message. But he had a gift for sure: to make her boil with the need to rip his tiny heart from his ribcage. "She-she needs you- Inuyasha." The last words were whispered as she closed her hand around the doorknob. "But I wouldn't know since I'm just a babysitter, right? I wouldn't know because I'm the only one who actually cares for her!"

He just couldn't understand.

"Seven a.m. sharp. Now leave, I have work to do."

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... okay, don't kill me please! :S I know this story has been up here already, but as I said, I'll be publishing all my stories again... just with a few alterations... Anyway, thanks for reading guys :) Reviews are greatly appreciated!


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